Which books should Technical Authors read?

The bookshelves here at Cherryleaf are double stacked, and we’ve received another book this week to read and then store. So it seemed like a good time to mention which books we’d advise Technical Authors to read. This most recent book was published by XML Press, and their publications are well worth looking at. We have… Read more »

Should Technical Authors be allowed to work from home?

With the recent media attention on Yahoo’s announcement that it is banning its staff from “remote” working, we thought it might be useful to look at the case for and against Technical Authors working from home. The case for allowing remote working They can do their jobs more productively without interruption from others. When Technical Authors… Read more »

Technical Authors and the dark art of persuasion

Our latest post for the STC’s blog has been published today – Letter from the UK: The Dark Art of Persuasion. The reason why Science and the dark art of persuasion interested me, was because we’re noticing the techniques of persuasion appearing in some Web-based Help. Indeed, we cover some of these techniques in our advanced… Read more »

The best book for Technical Communicators in 2012

The best book I’ve read in 2012 wasn’t written for Technical Authors. It wasn’t even published in 2011. It was written by one my fellow speakers at the STC Conference in Chicago, and it was one that was the most thought provoking books I’ve read this year. One of the subjects it explores is curiosity:

Nine myths about technical writing

“We can design away the need for a user manual and online Help” The idea of a product that totally is intuitive to use, the product that sells itself, sounds terribly attractive. Often these are called commodities, and consumers tend to go for the cheapest one, or the one with the best brand image. There… Read more »